Press Release – For immediate release
11 December 2012
Contact: World Uyghur Congress www.uyghurcongress.org
0049 (0) 89 5432 1999 or [email protected]

The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) condemns in the strongst terms the death sentences handed down today to the 3 Uyghurs and life imprisonment for a fourth Uyghur for their alleged involvement in the Hotan air incident last July. Musa Yusup, Ershidinkari Imin and Omer Imin were sentenced to death, while Alim Musa was given a life sentence amidst a wealth of procedural flaws in their trials and serious questions left unanswered on the ordeal that lead to their arrest itself.

The convictions under such circumstances bring with them further poignancy being that they come the day after the UN Human Rights Day – which celebrates the adoption of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights – highlighting the disregard that the People’s Republic of China has for internationally accepted norms concerning the rule of law, treatment of detainees and best practices in law enforcement operations.

According to official Chinese coverage of the incident, 6 Uyghurs attempted to hijack a plane flying shortly after its takeoff from Hotan airport on 29 June 2012. The incident was subsequently foiled by the crew, some of whom were greatly rewarded for their efforts.

The 6 Uyghurs purportedly attacked the cockpit using sharpened crutches, and then proceeded to light “explosives”, which were not found in the follow-up investigation according to Song Shengli. After the landing of the plane two of the supposed-hijackers Ababekri Ibrahim and Yasin Memet died whilst in detention. These confused and contradictory statements from the media and the fact that the timing of the incident occured in the run up to the 3^rd anniversary of the July 5th Urumqi ethnic unrest cast significant doubts on the reliability of the offical acount of the ordeal and their alleged crimes of terrorism.

The trials of the 4 ‘suspects’ were conducted in secret. They were not given the right to choose their lawyers. These legal irregularities create questions over whether they were independently represented and given a fair trial. WUC President Ms Rebiya Kadeer raised further questions in regards to the possibility of the use of torture. These questions arise from the fact that, “Alim Musa was given life imprisonment for, ‘showing a good attitude in admitting his crimes’, suggesting that he was subjected to torture in order to extract a confession for the convinctions.”

Accusations of terrorism, often under the widely condemned crimes of “Endangering State Secrets”, are frequently levelled against Uyghurs to quell legitimate political dissent and intimidate others. Based on sources from the ground, no local Uyghurs believe that the incident was a terror related one due to the heavy restrictions and the many layers of security-checks placed on Uyghurs, believing instead that this was a politically motivated conviction. “These types of incidents and the convictions forment further discontent among the Uyghur people who continue to feel the brunt of ever increasing repressive policies that are erroding their language, culture, identity and freedoms”, Ms Kadeer said.

The WUC calls on the PRC to undertake an open and independent (re)trial of these four inviduals with a lawyer of their choosing, and to carry out a comprehensive investigation into the Hotan incident and to provide reparation where miscarriages of justice have been proven in accordance with a wealth of international legal standards. WUC also calls on the international community to take notice of these gross injustices against the human rights of the Uyghhur people and speak out on behalf of those who cannot do so.